The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for reclaiming tobacco and paper from cigarettes. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for reclaiming tobacco and paper from cigarettes which, by a unique pneumatic treatment of the cigarettes, avoids degradation of either the tobacco or its surrounding paper tube.
The tobacco industry has developed from an era in which fairly small producers provided essentially only loose tobacco to their customers, to its present state of being an intensely competitive business serving highly discriminating consumers. Though loose tobacco is still produced and marketed, the great bulk of the productive capacity of the industry is directed toward the production and marketing of cigarettes. Under the highly competitive circumstances existing in the tobacco industry and in light of the highly discriminating character of cigarette consumers, it is essential that very high standards of quality control be imposed and carefully maintained over the production of cigarettes. Cigarettes ultimately marketed must be of uniformly high quality.
Numerous factors contribute to the quality of a cigarette and each must be monitored as the cigarettes are produced. For example, the moisture content of tobacco must be carefully maintained at a desired level. The size and relative proportions of the particles of tobacco filler must be controlled with precision. Similarly, such other factors as density of the tobacco filler contained within each cigarette must be carefully controlled. And, as will be readily apparent, any cigarettes which become physically damaged in the manufacturing process must be rejected. Though the matter is greatly complicated by the vast numbers of cigarettes which must be produced, certain manufacturers have been singularly successful in imposing high standards of quality on the products marketed.
The practice of successful control of the quality of cigarettes reaching the consuming public involves rejecting (i.e., selectively removing) a substantial number of cigarettes which are imperfectly formed in the manufacturing process. While these cigarettes could perhaps be discarded in the interest of economy and ecology, certain manufacturers have undertaken to recycle their tobacco and paper contents. The methods employed thus far have been somewhat satisfactory but nonetheless leave much to be desired as far as the quality of the reclaimed products and the total efficiency of the operation are concerned.
Typically the devices employed in the prior art to reclaim tobacco and paper involve rotating and moisturizing the rejected cigarettes within a rotatable drum. The cigarettes thereafter are broken up and the resultant mix screened to partially separate the tobacco and paper. The remaining tobacco and paper are successively passed through a series of rotating blades and cyclone separators to complete separation. While this process is relatively effective in simply separating the tobacco from the paper, it possesses several disadvantages.
A principal disadvantage of the process resides in the fact that the paper, and more importantly the tobacco, undergo substantial degradation. The paper is shredded to a significant degree and the relative amount of fine particles of tobacco is increased. Thus, the recovered tobacco is less suitable for use in new cigarettes, and the paper is thus more difficult to handle for purposes of recycling. Additionally, the moisture content of the recovered tobacco ordinarily has to be adjusted to achieve the proper level before the tobacco can be reused.
Certain of the foregoing disadvantages can be avoided by pneumatically forcing tobacco from the surrounding paper tubes of cigarettes without comminuting or otherwise significantly damaging the paper and tobacco. This approach has been attempted in the prior art in a number of instances, but significant new problems have developed. Many of these problems spring from the difficulties inherent in individually handling large numbers of cigarettes. For instance, in order to properly pneumatically eject tobacco from the interior of a cigarette, each cigarette must be accurately positioned relative to the various elements of the system. This positioning, and in particular the axial position of each cigarette relative to an air orifice has been accomplished mechanically in the prior art. This approach has tended in some cases to damage the ends of the cigarettes thus hampering complete ejection of the filler from individual cigarettes. Mechanical alignment has thus proven to be somewhat unsatisfactory.
In pneumatically ejecting tobacco from cigarettes, it is important for optimum operation that the portion of the cigarette to receive the charge of air intended to eject the tobacco be well sealed with the element of the machine producing the charge of air. In many devices of the prior art, there is no direct seal between the cigarette and the element of the mechanism producing the charge of air. As a result, a portion of the pressure differential otherwise available for ejecting tobacco is dissipated, the efficiency of the reclaiming apparatus is diminished.
With only a prescribed amount of air pressure available for ejecting tobacco from the cigarettes, an unrestricted flow path from the portion of the cigarette receiving the air jet to the open end of the cigarette from which the tobacco is ejected is highly important. If the flow path is restricted to some degree, a portion of the air pressure must first be expended in overcoming the restriction. Only the air pressure remaining after the restriction has been passed is available for ejecting tobacco. Inasmuch as certain of the devices of the prior art entail restriction of the flow path through the cigarettes, these devices are inherently less effective than if the flow path were unrestricted.
Typically, the devices of the prior art employing air pressure to eject tobacco from cigarettes involve a jet of air applied to one end of the cigarette in order to eject the tobacco from the opposite end. In order to effectively apply the jet of air to an end of a cigarette, the cigarette must be properly restrained from axial translation away from the jet of air. Certain of the devices of the prior art have been somewhat deficient in this regard and have failed to satisfactorily restrain the cigarettes as a jet of air is applied. As a result, the efficiency of the devices has been less than optimal.
Other devices involving the pneumatic ejection of tobacco from cigarettes require that the operation be performed within impractically close tolerances. One device in particular requires that a cigarette fit quite precisely within the confines of a groove so that a needle can be inserted at the interface between the mouthpiece and the body of the cigarette. Inasmuch as the air pressure is introduced into the cigarette through the needle, the needle must pierce the cigarette at a relatively precise point to avoid incomplete ejection of tobacco from the surrounding paper tube. Other devices of the prior art entail analogous problems of excessively close working tolerances and thus tend to be less than optimal systems.
Numerous other serious problems are presented by the various devices of the prior art. These problems should readily occur to those skilled in the art and are among many which tend to reduce the effectiveness and desirability of methods and apparatus intended to reclaim tobacco and paper from cigarettes. The foregoing presentation of specific problems encountered with devices of the prior art should thus not be construed as exhaustive or even necessarily representative. The problems discussed are exemplary only. Nonetheless, the discussion should suffice to satisfactorily demonstrate that the devices of the prior art intended to reclaim tobacco and paper from cigarettes have been less than entirely satisfactory.